City to rework rejected $5.2M proposal to widen S.W. 10th

Council recently voted 4-3-1 to reject initial project proposal

Cars travel Friday afternoon along a narrow stretch of S.W. 10th between S.W. Gage Boulevard and Fairlawn Road. Topeka's city administration plans to bring back before the city council a reworked version of a proposal the council rejected last week to widen S.W. 10th in that area.

Cars travel Friday afternoon along a narrow stretch of S.W. 10th Avenue between S.W. Gage Boulevard and Fairlawn Road. Topeka's city administration plans to bring back before the city council a reworked version of a proposal the council rejected last week to widen S.W. 10th in that area.

Here is how the Topeka City Council voted this past week in rejecting, 4-3-1, a proposed $5.2 million project to use federal funding to widen S.W. 10th Avenue between S.W. Gage Boulevard and Fairlawn Road:

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Topeka’s city administration plans to bring back before the city council a reworked version of a proposal the council rejected last week to widen a stretch of S.W. 10th Avenue.

Council members voted 4-3-1 Tuesday to reject the proposed $5.2 million budget for a project through which the city would have used federal funding to pay to widen the mile-long section of S.W. 10th between Gage Boulevard and Fairlawn Road.

Five votes were needed to approve the measure. Councilman Richard Harmon abstained because he owns property adjacent to the proposed improvement.

Suzie Gilbert, communications and marketing director for the city, said later last week that the city staff was evaluating the project and taking into account input received from the council.

“After we take a closer look and make changes as necessary, we will bring the project back before the council,” she said. “We expect it will be back before the governing body in the next 60 days.”

The section of S.W. 10th being considered for improvement is mostly two lanes wide.

Its width increases to four lanes just east of Fairlawn, and gradually increases to five lanes in the three-tenths of a mile west of Gage.

The street was constructed in 1918 and pavement was added in about 1930, according to a fact sheet that was part of last week’s council agenda.

The fact sheet said, “As traffic has increased in the area, the need to widen S.W. 10th Avenue from two to three lanes has increased.”

The proposed project included putting in new pavement, curb and gutter, sidewalks, street lighting and drainage systems. Construction was proposed to take place over two years, in 2015 and 2016.

The council on March 29, 2011, voted 8-0-1, with Harmon abstaining, to approve a $600,000 budget to carry out design work for the project using federal funding administered through the Kansas Department of Transportation. City engineer Shawn Bruns told the council that evening that the city tentatively planned to widen S.W. 10th to five lanes between Fairlawn and Gage.

The council last week considered the proposed $5.2 million budget to use further federal funding administered by KDOT to carry out the project.

City public works director Doug Whitacre told the council his department had decided to scale back the project by widening the street to three lanes instead of five between:

■ The point where it currently widens just east of Fairlawn.

■ S.W. Civitan Lane, which intersects with S.W. 10th just south of central Gage Park.

Whitacre said plans for the project called for S.W. 10th to be five lanes wide from Civitan east to Gage.

He added that his department had left the original $5.2 million cost estimate in place.

Whitacre said that if the project budget were approved, his department as it went forward could determine its actual cost and perhaps use the leftover federal money to widen S.W. 6th Avenue between Wanamaker and Fairlawn roads.

Councilwoman Karen Hiller said she appreciated that the public works department had scaled back the project on S.W. 10th and was open to seeing that department “decide to roll it back even further.”

Hiller subsequently voted in favor of the project.

Councilman Chad Manspeaker said he didn’t understand why the stretch of street needed to be widened. He said he drives it every day, and never sees congestion except at the intersections.

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"The street was constructed in 1918 and pavement was added in about 1930, according to a fact sheet"? Any facts on the cost of those two projects?
$5.2M "to widen the mile-long section of S.W. 10th between Gage Boulevard and Fairlawn Road"?!? Anybody have a "fact sheet" on how many miles of streets in Topeka? At $5.2M per mile . . . glad I kept the old horse . . .

I would guess they will have to buy up some land in order to widen it. I honestly don't see the need for 5 lanes or 3. Just putting some decent shoulders on that stretch would help it a bunch. That would give drivers a little wiggle room when the car coming at you decides to take their half out of the middle. I've seen that a number of times.

I think the widening is needed…I think it should be down on the list. 12th Street from (at least) MacVicar to Oakley is in desperate need of repair. Those people that drive Huntoon east in the AM and 12th West in the evenings have to be putting on some serious wear & tear on their cars.

CHAD the city engineer speaks again. WOW he's against safe roads, He's against JEDO, He's against Go Topeka. He single handedly does more to stifle growth in this town than any politician.... Hmmm no electric work in roads CHAD?

Every time it snows there are multiple cars off in the ditch, as there are no shoulders. Furthermore you have a raceway as traffic that is west bound on 10th from Gage forces 2 lanes into one just past the Gage park turnoff. I've seen numerous accidents from merging traffic and ensuing chaos around the grocery store.